Out of the Box » family historyhttp://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box
Notes from the Archives at The Library of VirginiaWed, 14 Feb 2018 14:00:45 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.1It’s A Virginia Thing: Helping One Native Colleague at a Timehttp://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2017/02/08/its-a-virginia-thing-2/
http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2017/02/08/its-a-virginia-thing-2/#commentsWed, 08 Feb 2017 14:00:06 +0000http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/?p=9549Back in 2010 when I was processing the Nelson County chancery suits, I found a remarkable genealogical chart of the prominent Carter family. From that discovery, I wrote my first Out of the Box blog—A Tree Grows In…Chancery! Now, I am here to testify that not only does lightning strike twice, but in the same place as well. Mary Dean Carter, an archival assistant at the Library of Virginia since 2007, was thrilled about my first revelation related to her father’s lineage.

While helping process the Halifax County chancery in 2014, it was my second discovery though that really hit home for Mary Dean. In the beginning of the project Mary Dean had a simple request, let me know if you come across any suits with these last names: Long, Woodall, Land, Burton, Hudson, or VanHook. These surnames belong to her known relatives residing in Halifax County. In a rather lengthy chancery suit from 1869, Heirs of Jesse (Jessee) Ballow v. Exr of Jesse (Jessee) Ballow, etc., 1869-021, I uncovered relatives on her mother’s side of the family.

With the discovery of another well-preserved genealogical chart, Mary Dean determined that her third great grandfather, Hyram Hudson, was a direct descendant of Jesse Ballow’s sister, Anne. A color coded key is provided for reading the chart. Jesse Ballow died in Cumberland County and … read more »

]]>Back in 2010 when I was processing the Nelson County chancery suits, I found a remarkable genealogical chart of the prominent Carter family. From that discovery, I wrote my first Out of the Box blog—A Tree Grows In…Chancery! Now, I am here to testify that not only does lightning strike twice, but in the same place as well. Mary Dean Carter, an archival assistant at the Library of Virginia since 2007, was thrilled about my first revelation related to her father’s lineage.

While helping process the Halifax County chancery in 2014, it was my second discovery though that really hit home for Mary Dean. In the beginning of the project Mary Dean had a simple request, let me know if you come across any suits with these last names: Long, Woodall, Land, Burton, Hudson, or VanHook. These surnames belong to her known relatives residing in Halifax County. In a rather lengthy chancery suit from 1869, Heirs of Jesse (Jessee) Ballow v. Exr of Jesse (Jessee) Ballow, etc., 1869-021, I uncovered relatives on her mother’s side of the family.

With the discovery of another well-preserved genealogical chart, Mary Dean determined that her third great grandfather, Hyram Hudson, was a direct descendant of Jesse Ballow’s sister, Anne. A color coded key is provided for reading the chart. Jesse Ballow died in Cumberland County and was declared of unsound mind. The cause contends that his will was obtained by fraudulent means on the part of the named executors. One of the plaintiffs in the suit, Hudson, was a resident of North Carolina at the time and “was never served with any notice or summons in said case.” He and the other plaintiffs were “entitled to their distributive share in Jesse’s large state of both real and personal property.” These heirs were challenging the validity of Ballow’s will.

According to the commissioner’s findings listed on the back of the chart, Hyram Hudson was entitled to 1/3 of 1/21 part—that is to say 1/63 part—of the estate of Jesse Ballow. As the docket indicates, the cause transpired over a twenty-two year period and was never resolved. The last order was filed in 1860. Due to an extensive period of inactivity, the cause was stricken from the docket in 1869. Hyram Hudson passed away in 1867 in Halifax County without ever receiving any portion of his uncle’s estate. Other documents found in the cause contain additional genealogical information, such as an extensive list of defendants and where they resided (mainly in Halifax, Buckingham and Cumberland counties but also outside the state) and an account of the sale of Ballow’s slaves.

Helping someone find a tangible part of their family’s history is always gratifying. Helping process the Library of Virginia’s wonderful collections is truly a unique way for me to stay connected to the Commonwealth’s history and heritage. This historical connection has also played a vital role in my own life as a native daughter. I figure if I stick around long enough, I will eventually uncover the piece of the puzzle that connects my father’s family to Mary Dean’s family. Don’t think for a minute that I am not working on it!

–Callie Lou Freed was born at Fort Belvoir, Virginia in Fairfax County. She spent her childhood in Stafford County. She has worked at the Library of Virginia for the past 22 years. First, she was an Information Services Assistant based in the Circuit Court Clerk’s Office in Alexandria, Virginia. For the past 16 years, she has been a Local Records Archivist in the Library’s Circuit Court Records Preservation Program.

]]>http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2017/02/08/its-a-virginia-thing-2/feed/3A Day in the Archives with Who Do You Think You Are?http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2015/04/20/a-day-in-the-archives-with-who-do-you-think-you-are/
http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2015/04/20/a-day-in-the-archives-with-who-do-you-think-you-are/#commentsMon, 20 Apr 2015 13:00:20 +0000http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/?p=8477
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I was called to a meeting in the Library’s Special Collections reading room on a busy day in September 2014. A certain amount of skullduggery and mystery surrounded the parlay with staff from a yet-to-be-identified TV show about genealogy. Already other Library of Virginia staff members had unearthed a set of documents that related to a certain Benjamin Sharpe from a remote section of Virginia. I was to provide context with a few of my colleagues. The meeting went smoothly enough—a free-ranging discussion of the election of 1800, life in a remote section of Virginia, and slavery in the Appalachian region. Did I know a historian who could speak on camera with the show’s star for filming? Certainly. I recommended a few names and returned to my work.

A few days later the e-mail arrived. Would I be the foil for the unnamed actor? I was surprised and flattered, as I recall, but also a bit wary of the assignment. Having some familiarity with shows of this type, I felt hesitant. Such TV episodes, like a movie or any other kind of storytelling, must have a narrative arc. Having been a “talking head” for many documentaries and short media pieces, I realized that my part would be boiled down and edited to serve that narrative. I do the … read more »

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I wasn’t sure what to expect when I was called to a meeting in the Library’s Special Collections reading room on a busy day in September 2014. A certain amount of skullduggery and mystery surrounded the parlay with staff from a yet-to-be-identified TV show about genealogy. Already other Library of Virginia staff members had unearthed a set of documents that related to a certain Benjamin Sharpe from a remote section of Virginia. I was to provide context with a few of my colleagues. The meeting went smoothly enough—a free-ranging discussion of the election of 1800, life in a remote section of Virginia, and slavery in the Appalachian region. Did I know a historian who could speak on camera with the show’s star for filming? Certainly. I recommended a few names and returned to my work.

A few days later the e-mail arrived. Would I be the foil for the unnamed actor? I was surprised and flattered, as I recall, but also a bit wary of the assignment. Having some familiarity with shows of this type, I felt hesitant. Such TV episodes, like a movie or any other kind of storytelling, must have a narrative arc. Having been a “talking head” for many documentaries and short media pieces, I realized that my part would be boiled down and edited to serve that narrative. I do the same thing in my own writing to the historical actors whose papers and diaries I mine for quotes and thoughts. In the end, of course, I accepted. Discussing even a few of our treasures on a national media platform might be the inspiration for many people to find us. Oh, and my boss said I had to do it.

Luckily, my colleagues had already mined the Library’s vast collection for a set of remarkable documents related to Benjamin Sharpe. From the state archives was his mileage and pay for attending a session of the House of Delegates from remote Lee County, a place closer to at least five other state capitols than to Richmond. A personal property tax book from local records documented his slaveholding in a place with a very small enslaved population. An early map of Virginia reinforced the remoteness of Sharpe’s world from the state capitol and his location near the Wilderness Road and the Cumberland Gap—the gateway to the west that he would soon travel. Our star cranked microfilm, leafed through indexes and books, and read 19th-century handwriting, generally standing up well to the demands of research—if only for a few hours. We all know family historians who have literally spent years in the archives.

So what got left on the cutting room floor? Sharpe’s votes in the General Assembly were fascinating but too complicated to fully explore. Issues of religious freedom immediately arose—could the assembly pay a chaplain? Sharpe sought needed infrastructure for his remote home region just as a modern legislator would. A slaveholder in an overwhelmingly non-slaveholding region, he voted on changes to Virginia’s slave code. In the end, we needed to get Sharpe from point A to B. These and many other stories await other researchers—and maybe TV shows.

This isn’t the first time that the Library of Virginia has contributed to Who Do You Think You Are? and other genealogical TV shows. The proliferation of such shows—a weird hybrid of reality TV and investigative journalism—has been a true cultural phenomenon. It was inevitable that producers and researchers would knock on the Library’s doors to gain access to one of the preeminent research institutions for family history in the United States. Virginia’s status as the oldest North American British colony meant that its people migrated to every corner of the country—so most Americans can claim a Virginia ancestor. The unparalleled collections drew Who Do You Think You Are? in 2012, when actor and Petersburg native Blair Underwood traveled to the Library to trace his family in the Campbell County Free Negro and Slave Records and the Amherst Free Negro Register, among other treasures. He even discovered that one of his ancestors was a slave owner. Likewise, researchers for Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. have made extensive use of the Library’s records.

–Gregg Kimball, Director of Public Services and Outreach

]]>http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2015/04/20/a-day-in-the-archives-with-who-do-you-think-you-are/feed/0Why Research Family History?http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2015/04/17/why-research-family-history/
http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2015/04/17/why-research-family-history/#commentsFri, 17 Apr 2015 13:00:03 +0000http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/?p=8473“All eastern Virginians are Shintoists under the skin. Genealogy makes history personal to them in terms of family. Kinship to the eighth degree usually is recognized.”

—Douglas Southall Freeman, “The Spirit of Virginia,” in Virginia: A Guide to the Old Dominion

Those born in Virginia (or those who have lived here for any length of time) will either nod approvingly or roll their eyes at this quip by the famed historian and biographer Douglas Southall Freeman. The mind easily turns to Virginians bowing down at the sacred altars of their ancestors. Being a New Englander with a long lineage in this country, I can appreciate the sentiment. My own father at one time presided over the Kimball Family Association, which, because of Brigham Young’s lieutenant Heber Kimball from Vermont, likely has as many members in Utah as in New England. And we know that genealogy is serious business there!

But it was not always so. America’s complicated relationship with family history stems from our founding, when the new country’s leaders consciously threw off the chains of hereditary rights and aristocracy. George Mason asserted this sentiment in the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776: “That no Man, or Set of Men are entitled to exclusive or separate Emoluments or Privileges from the Community, but in Consideration of public Services; which not being descendible, neither ought the … read more »

]]>“All eastern Virginians are Shintoists under the skin. Genealogy makes history personal to them in terms of family. Kinship to the eighth degree usually is recognized.”

—Douglas Southall Freeman, “The Spirit of Virginia,” in Virginia: A Guide to the Old Dominion

Those born in Virginia (or those who have lived here for any length of time) will either nod approvingly or roll their eyes at this quip by the famed historian and biographer Douglas Southall Freeman. The mind easily turns to Virginians bowing down at the sacred altars of their ancestors. Being a New Englander with a long lineage in this country, I can appreciate the sentiment. My own father at one time presided over the Kimball Family Association, which, because of Brigham Young’s lieutenant Heber Kimball from Vermont, likely has as many members in Utah as in New England. And we know that genealogy is serious business there!

But it was not always so. America’s complicated relationship with family history stems from our founding, when the new country’s leaders consciously threw off the chains of hereditary rights and aristocracy. George Mason asserted this sentiment in the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776: “That no Man, or Set of Men are entitled to exclusive or separate Emoluments or Privileges from the Community, but in Consideration of public Services; which not being descendible, neither ought the Offices of Magistrate, Legislator, or Judge, to be hereditary.” Republican America asserted that advancement should be through merit, perseverance, and hard work. The Horatio Alger ideal of social advancement through dint of pluck and brains has persisted despite obvious signs that even in America your surname can surely matter. Cue the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, and DuPonts. Not a true aristocracy lineage perhaps, but surely hereditary economic and political power.

So how did America become a nation with thousands of hereditary and family societies and millions of people involved in genealogical research? One factor was the need for the citizens of a new nation to develop and sustain a creation story through organizations such as the Daughters and Sons of the Revolution (both of my parents belonged). It was inevitable that a new country would search for a usable past. In America, the onus on ties to the old country increasingly faded and families searched Europe for their ancestors, even making up family coats of arms (as mine did). Sadly, American genealogy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries also had a dark side—the desire for those of “Northern European stock” to separate themselves from the immigrants pouring into America and from people of African descent. Virginia was particularly tainted by this connection to the eugenics movement. Walter Plecker, head of the state’s Department of Vital Statistics, attempted to prove through genealogy that Virginia’s Indians no longer existed and also asserted that all Virginians were either “white” or “colored.” Taking this argument to the heights of absurdity, an exemption was made for “First Families of Virginia” who claimed descent from Pocahontas.

Luckily, genealogy has changed in our time into a much healthier and more egalitarian pursuit. For me, the term “family history” evokes this transformation. Rather than an obsession with drawing a line to the past’s famous people, most researchers are truly interested in their ancestor’s stories and the times in which they lived. This context allows us to appreciate all of our ancestors—whether scoundrels or saints, high-born or low—as part of the complete story of our past. Emblematic of this change, this year the African American Genealogical and Historical Society will meet in Richmond. As the first landing place in British North America of Africans, and as the greatest exporter of people in the domestic slave trade, Virginia is ground zero for researching the stories of African American families.

Tune in to watch the episode of Who Do You Think You Are? that was filmed partly at the Library of Virginia on Sunday, April 19 at 10:00 PM (9:00 central) on TLC.

–Gregg Kimball, Director of Public Services and Outreach

]]>http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2015/04/17/why-research-family-history/feed/2Montgomery County’s African American Historyhttp://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2014/07/02/montgomery-countys-african-american-history/
http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2014/07/02/montgomery-countys-african-american-history/#commentsWed, 02 Jul 2014 13:00:01 +0000http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/?p=7930
The varied experience of the African American residents of Montgomery County, Virginia, reveals itself in many documentary sources, but perhaps none as unexpected to some researchers as in the chancery causes. As a preview of the upcoming workshop “Researching Your African American Ancestors: Genealogy to 1870” scheduled to be held at the Christiansburg Public Library on 19 July 2014, here follow five examples from the Montgomery County chancery causes highlighting different facets of African American life over the span of 100 years.

Whether as slaves or free persons of color, African Americans arrived in the western parts of Virginia as soon as the area began to be settled by easterners. The earliest chancery suit with an identified free person is suit 1819-016, Lewis Garner vs. Peter Hance. Peter Hance executed a bond to Garner, “a man of color” for $49.75 in 1813. Garner then lost the note and Hance refused to honor the debt. Garner filed suit against Hance to clarify the circumstances of the debt, the loss of the note, and to collect what he was owed. The suit was dismissed at the request of the plaintiff in 1819.

Slaves appear throughout the chancery suits in many different situations, most commonly in an estate settlement suit when the slaves are divided among heirs or sold to pay debts. Chancery cause 1847-015, Ann Trigg, … read more »

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The varied experience of the African American residents of Montgomery County, Virginia, reveals itself in many documentary sources, but perhaps none as unexpected to some researchers as in the chancery causes. As a preview of the upcoming workshop “Researching Your African American Ancestors: Genealogy to 1870” scheduled to be held at the Christiansburg Public Library on 19 July 2014, here follow five examples from the Montgomery County chancery causes highlighting different facets of African American life over the span of 100 years.

Whether as slaves or free persons of color, African Americans arrived in the western parts of Virginia as soon as the area began to be settled by easterners. The earliest chancery suit with an identified free person is suit 1819-016, Lewis Garner vs. Peter Hance. Peter Hance executed a bond to Garner, “a man of color” for $49.75 in 1813. Garner then lost the note and Hance refused to honor the debt. Garner filed suit against Hance to clarify the circumstances of the debt, the loss of the note, and to collect what he was owed. The suit was dismissed at the request of the plaintiff in 1819.

Slaves appear throughout the chancery suits in many different situations, most commonly in an estate settlement suit when the slaves are divided among heirs or sold to pay debts. Chancery cause 1847-015, Ann Trigg, etc. by etc. vs. Exr. of James Craig, concerns the settlement of the estate of James Craig, the grandfather of the infant plaintiffs. Slaves are named in several of the documents including a copy of Craig’s will and a list of slaves sold. In the latter, the family relationships of the enslaved are given including Joseph and his wife Biddy, Fortune and his wife Fanny, and Tina and Frank (presumably her infant son).

Suit 1849-002, Joseph Deyerle, etc. vs. Admr. of Abner Early concerns a debt owed by Early to the heirs of Charles Deyerle that was contracted as a result of the lease of a saw mill. It also sneaks in a family relationship that anybody could understand: a younger man working to support his aged and disabled father. The plaintiffs alleged that various slaves owned by Early could be used to pay off the debt owed, but some confusion existed as to whether Early owned the slaves or whether his brother or father’s estate had ownership. Various citizens were deposed to clarify the situation. The depositions of Charles Thomas and Joseph Bott discuss several slaves including the “old blind creature” Arthur. Thomas stated that he understood that all of the labor of the slave called Mingo “went to support old Arthur, who lived with him” and Bott testified that Arthur was Mingo’s father.

A divorce suit, 1895-003, Belle B. Hopkins vs. George W. Hopkins, was the result of George’s desertion of his wife for a student of his named Mary Cannady. George had previously separated from Belle and wrote a letter of reconciliation from Chicago which also contained an interesting assertion on his part– being able to pass in that town as a white man. After getting back together, George was teaching at Elliston where he soon transferred his affections to his student Mary. Included as exhibits are two letters of George’s: the one from Chicago to Belle and then one to Mary revealing his feelings for her.

The final suit, 1912-031, J. S. Clingenpeel, etc. vs. W. W. Gray,etc., and Friends Freedmen’s Association vs. J. S. Clingenpeel, etc., was over debts incurred to various contractors responsible for construction projects at the Christiansburg Industrial Institute. Founded in 1866, the Institute was brought into being by Charles S. Schaeffer, Brevet-Captain, U. S. Volunteers, as an agent of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. Later, the school received the financial support of the Quaker Friends’ Freedmen’s Association. Eventually the school transformed into a technical training school under the direction of Booker T. Washington. A farm was purchased in 1905 and a campus of several buildings constructed. The school was taken over by the Montgomery County School Board in 1934, converted to a high school in 1947, and finally closed in 1966 when the county schools integrated. This suit does not contain much in the way of school history, but does include invoices that give information about the buildings and physical plant of the campus.

“Researching Your African American Ancestors: Genealogy to 1870” will be held at the Christiansburg Public Library in Montgomery County, Virginia, on 19 July 2014, from 11:00 AM-1:00 PM. There is no cost for the workshop but registration is required. Please call 540-382-6965 to register.

Chancery causes are great sources of genealogical information, and some even provide the names of numerous generations of family members. The following is an example uncovered using the LVA’s Chancery Records Index.

Four generations of the Osborne and Friend families of Chesterfield County can be found in Administrator of Thomas O. Taylor vs. John Metcalfe, etc., Chesterfield County Chancery Cause 1867-065. This suit concerns the estate of Thomas O. Taylor, who died without issue, brothers, or sisters in Powhatan County in 1835. The 1850 amended bill of complaint for this cause concerns the living next-of-kin who were entitled to Thomas O. Taylor’s estate.

Taylor was an only child, and his parents were deceased. His father, Thomas A. Taylor, was from England and the court did not attempt to find any of his next-of-kin. It followed that the brothers and sisters of his mother, Martha Osborne Taylor, were considered Thomas O. … read more »

Chancery causes are great sources of genealogical information, and some even provide the names of numerous generations of family members. The following is an example uncovered using the LVA’s Chancery Records Index.

Four generations of the Osborne and Friend families of Chesterfield County can be found in Administrator of Thomas O. Taylor vs. John Metcalfe, etc., Chesterfield County Chancery Cause 1867-065. This suit concerns the estate of Thomas O. Taylor, who died without issue, brothers, or sisters in Powhatan County in 1835. The 1850 amended bill of complaint for this cause concerns the living next-of-kin who were entitled to Thomas O. Taylor’s estate.

Taylor was an only child, and his parents were deceased. His father, Thomas A. Taylor, was from England and the court did not attempt to find any of his next-of-kin. It followed that the brothers and sisters of his mother, Martha Osborne Taylor, were considered Thomas O. Taylor’s next-of-kin. However, his mother’s sister, Ann, and brothers, Thomas and Francis, also died without issue, leaving no one living in that generation to take part in this chancery cause. It was necessary to move back yet another generation to the descendants of brothers and sisters of Taylor’s maternal grandfather, Thomas Osborne, and maternal grandmother, Frances Friend Osborne. Their living descendants became the defendants in this chancery cause.

A list of all of Thomas O. Taylor’s next-of-kin that were known to Higginson Hancock, administrator of the Taylor estate, in the year 1850 is found in the bill of complaint.

Scores of government records, most kept for solely legal or bureaucratic purposes, reside at the Library of Virginia. Like Taylor v. Metcalfe, these materials may contain a host of useful genealogical clues and biographical information. As we like to say around here, anyone with a Virginia connection (and even many without) can find their history at the Library of Virginia. We hope that the 2014 Family History Conference attendees will be successful in finding theirs.